Santa Barbara Mission

Posted by Amy Evelyn Oden , Tuesday, February 8, 2022 1:17 PM

Vianne is in 4th grade, and that means California History time!  As an Oregonian who studied the Oregon Trail and Lewis & Clark during that year, I'm learning vicariously through my daughter.  She is working on a report/presentation on the Santa Barbara Mission, and so (also being Patrick's favorite city) we decided to go visit in person.  We spent the afternoon at the pier & the beach, drove by the mission to see it at night, and then got up the next morning for the 9am church service at the mission (we couldn't believe the kids' patience in sitting through the whole thing!) and then did the full tour of the mission & grounds.  Then we visited the Natural History Museum & stopped by the pier again before heading home.  Now we're all fans of Santa Barbara & are already dreaming of our next visit.






Vianne recreates a moment from her younger years, about age two, when she last visited this beach...
















Oliver got a head start on note taking for his report in two years :-)






Trout Rodeo

Posted by Amy Evelyn Oden , Saturday, April 17, 2021 12:23 PM

The kids have often talked about wanting to go fishing - and today they got their first chance!  The Tavern Bay Beach Club hosted a "Trout Rodeo" and the kids were utterly delighted.  It was such a fun event, well put together, and we had a great time! The kids each got a chance to reel in three or four fish, rainbow & lightning trout.

 









Spring Break-slash-Vianne's 9th Birthday Getaway to San Diego

Posted by Amy Evelyn Oden , Tuesday, April 13, 2021 2:05 PM

We found a new happy place: San Diego.  A mere two hour drive from Lake Arrowhead, I think we will be frequenting this beautiful city, Lord willing, in the years to come.  We planned a short getaway for Vianne's 9th--she requested a trip to the world-famous San Diego Zoo for her big day--and since it coincided with the kids' spring break, we made a three-day adventure out of it.

The first afternoon (Vianne's last day of eight), we hung out at Seaport Village, took advantage of the tiny (reservations only for COVID) yet perfect hotel pool, got dinner at Chick-Fil-A, and enjoyed the sunset from Fiesta Island in Mission Bay.










There was a lone sea lion down there in the water that they're looking at, but a little hard to see in the photo!




Such a beautiful place!  We were enchanted!

Vianne's Birthday/Zoo Day! For COVID, we had to buy tickets in advance with a selected date, wear masks all day, and wait in a line six feet apart.  We got there about 40 min before opening, which made us second in line and among the first into the zoo!  Not gonna lie, it was really great to have a restricted entry because the crowds were much less than we'd normally anticipate during spring break, and we quite often even found ourselves completely alone in an area of the park!






We got such a kick out of this gorilla, posed like The Thinker, clearly situated to observe those observing him/her. 

And then the other one, hiding back behind the wall. He seemed to be on a break from entertaining!



The lion was definitely a highlight!  We caught him in the morning while he was out pacing and then even got to hear him do some mighty roaring.


Got to hear this guy do some roaring, too!








We were brave and navigated the tram thingy like pros (no small feat for those of us with height issues).  Oliver declared it his favorite experience of the day!

See?  Wide open spaces!


Oliver's favorite animal of the day was the koala!
 
 



Harriet's baby Eleanor :-)


Attempting to recreate a photo from our last trip here...our 3rd anniversary, 
when Vianne was in my belly!





Of course, one of the day's top goals was to see the cheetahs (Vianne's favorite animal)!
Sweet little 'baby' Maggie - the two year old cheetah had her own pen.


The other pen held two (sleepy) adult cheetahs.


Baby ducks!
 
We also caught the tiger pacing!


Oliver was greatly enjoying the sweet baby orangutan cuddling up with one of the females.  Unfortunately, things took a turn for the embarrassing when the female rolled her way over to the male...and, well, as Oliver said, "They were being un-appropriate." (Oh dear 😂)
 



New masks!





We walked 'til our feet were killing us...and then found a Chili's for a late dinner.  
Free ice cream for the birthday girl!  (Still my baby!)
Oliver didn't quite make it through dinner 😂😍
Finally back at the hotel...
 Our last day, we found the closest ocean beach (about 10 min away)
 and reveled in the sun & sand & waves.